Learn How To Manage Your Own Investments

"If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it away from him. An investment of knowledge always pays the best interest."  -Benjamin Franklin

Ideally, in an effort to achieve your long-term financial goals, you would be in a position to manage your own investments.  Assuming ownership of the responsibility to manage your own investments can be a best-case scenario for many investors primarily due to the investment costs that can be saved and the ability to steer clear of unethical or incompetent investment managers who may not have your best interests at heart.  Unfortunately, in an effort to accomplish investment management successfully oneself without any third-party assistance, many investors inflict significant harm upon themselves.  There are many potential pitfalls and traps for the unwary.  One can avoid these pitfalls by learning what they are and how to deal with them.  Ultimately, the solution is to seek out and obtain an investment education on your own.  For those who are motivated to self-educate, the rewards can become significant over time.  All the information you need to develop and implement your personal investment policy can be found in some good books.  To help you begin your journey, I have assembled some excellent books below to get you started.  The time you spend reading them will be well spent.  The knowledge you acquire might potentially save you a significant amount of money and potentially help you increase your returns over your lifetime.  At the very least, these books will help raise your awareness around important issues so you can ask good questions of your investment manager.